Nursing nipples



April 18, 1961 sAPPEY ETAL 2,980,113

NURSING NIPPLES Filed June 22, 1955 INVENTORS Harold Soppey Mary Scppey ATTORNEY Y NURSING NIPPLES Harold Sappey and Mary Sappey, 45 Kew Gardens Road, Kew Gardens, N.Y.; Lawrence E. Brinn, executor of said Harold Sappey, assignor to said Mary Sappey Filed June 22, 1955, Ser. No. 517,158

11 Claims. (Cl. 128-252) This invention relates to nursing nipples. The primary object of this invention is to provide anursing nipple that will establish proper feeding conditions, free of the usual sub-normal pressure, or vacuum, conditions in the feeding bottle and in the infants mouth, that have been the main contributing causes of the pains, discomfort,

upset stomach and nausea, generally included in the term colic, suffered by many infants as aresult of improper feeding from a bottle.

It is a fact that the vagus nerve has a more extensive distribution than any of the other cranial nerves and that it supplies both motor and sensory fibers to a considerable area in the neck, thorax and abdomen, and some of its branches innervate the pharynx, esophagus and stomach.

Thus, any stress or irritation of the vagus beyond the normal responses for which it is naturally intended will result in a consequent disturbance of the various parts of the body that are served by the vagus nerve. An abnormal stress or irritant of the vagus nerve caused by excessive force pulses due to the generation of sub-normal pressure in the mouth of an infant during successive sucking pulses on an improper nipple, causes disturbances all along the entire distribution of the vagus nerve.

The object of the present invention is to provide a nipple that will control the feeding conditions to prevent excessive vacuum pressures with the consequent harmful effect '40 drawings, in which: i

' Figure 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away to show the section of the nipple; Figure l-A is a sectional view of a por-tion serving as a valve to control air admission to the bottle;

Figure 2 is a transverse section takenalong line' 2--2 of Figure l; p l

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken along line3--3 ofFi gurel; I Figure 4 is a schematic viewof a mold for formingra nipple; and I Figure 5 is a schematic view of a feeding infant and shows the arrangement of part of the vagus nerve as l feeding operation is made'easier'for the infant. The negative pressure effect, or vacuum, necessary in the infants mouth for sucking is thus limited. Consequently, excesiaffected by feeding conditions in the infants mouth. I

As showriin Figure 1, a nursing nipple 10, constructed 4 in accordance with the principles of this invention, c omprises a head or teat. 11, at. the front or top of a neck 12 that-extends backto an enlarged dome of breast portion 13, with a continuing sleeve orconduit'portion '14 to a terminating peripheral flange or seating portion 15;

' The head or teat 11is provided with one orimore small .65

openings/functionally represented .by a'hole 17 to serve as a passage for' liquid throughthe nipple, :from a usual reservoir, such as a bottle,18,as Figure 5, to a suckling infant. The neck 12 provides seatingv space for them- Patented Apr. 18, 1961 of neck 12, so the front of theteat will resist deformation more readily than the neck 12, and will therefore not slip out of the infants mouth too easily.

In order to provide one of the features of this invention, the neck 12 and the dome 13 are formed to have several flutes 21 extending longitudinally along the outer surfaces. The flutes 21 serve to provide air passages of limited sectional area, to enable small amounts of air to enter the infants mouth during nursing, suflicient to prevent the eflect of excessive accumulated vacuum in the infants mouth.

The provision of several passages assures that all passages will not be blocked ofl by the infants lips. Moreover, each passage is made relatively narrow and deep to prevent the soft flesh of theinfants lips from pressing er sinking down to the bottom of each flute and from thus shutting off the air passage through such flute. The important thing is that some passage must be left open so at least a minute amount of air may pass into the infants mouth, to prevent excessive vacuum formation in the infants mouth that would irritate the vagus nerve and upset the normalcondition of the infants gastric system. To avoid discomfort at the infants lips, the corner edges 22 (Figure 2) of the flute walls are rounded oft". The fluted portions are re-inforced by slightly thickened rear bosses 26 that are co-extensive with the length of the flute, as shown, for example, by the front-facing flute 21 in Figure 1.

In order to balance the breaking of the vacuum in the infants mouth, the formation of a vacuum in the feeding bottle is prevented, by admitting necessary small amounts of air into the bottle, to replace the quantity of liquid that is being withdrawn by the infant during the feeding operation. For that purpose, a passage 23 is provided inthe flange portion 15 to let the air into the bottle. The

outer end of passage 23 communicates with a peripheral annular space 24' that serves as a reservoir of air that will prevent accidental choking ofi of the air supply to thebottle, by blankets and the like.

In Figure 1, th e air-hole 23 to the bottle is shown schematically, merely for its function as an air passage. In Figure" 1A, a modified form of the flange is shown in the region of the air-hole, with a thinner diaphragm 27 connected to the main body of the flange by a gradually curved or tapered section-23.

.The diaphragm 27 is more sensitive to small air pres- Jsure differentials between the ambient air pressure outside I the bottle, and the sub-normal pressure developed in the bottle as liquid iswithdrawn by the infant during feeding. I V

The thin diaphragm 27 is therefore freer to function as an automatic pressure-sensitive valve to admit air to the bottle, when necessary, to prevent a. vacuum build-up in the bottle. 1

The diaphragm'valve 27, in admitting air to the bottle, tends to reduce the sucking force that must be exerted by the infant to drawsliquid from the bottle. The entire sive continual tuggingforces on the sensitive vagus nerve branches are obviated, andthe upsets, discomforts and disorders that would otherwise result in the gastric system of the infant are prevented.

' The size of diaphragm 27, in diameterand in thick-; ness, may be varied in accordance with the softness and resiliency of the material from which the-nipple is made;

' Figureishowsthe formation of the annular reservoir' I v Zkatthe-mouth of the air passage23into the bottle, to

illustratethe provision of a .chamber or pocket to' hold a quantity of immediately available, ;air. ,for.;the valve a go 11;, per F u 1 a d i ur ,.'t e;air-holes.

23 and 29 are shown exaggerated in diameter, for illustration only.

In Figure 4 is shown schematically a two-piece mold assembly 40, to illustrate one construction which may be employed to form the chamber and wall adjacent the opening into the bottle, as represented by the space 24, which is shown more fully in Figure 3. The mold assembly 4t is schematically shown as comprising a shaped plunger 41 to fit into a shaped cavity mold 42, with the cavity 43 of the cavity mold 42 of suitable shape and dimensions relative to plunger 41 to leave a space to form the nipple of desired shape and size.

The plunger 41 is provided with a forward rounded end 44, and a tapered transition section 45 leading to the wide base plug 46 that is provided with a longitudinal recess or flute 47 to outline the inner wall locus for the air chamber 24 that is shown in Figure 3. A land 48 on the inner wall of the cavity mold 42 co-operates with the flute 47 to define the limits of the wall section at chamber 24 and thus to control its thickness.

In Figure is shown schematically the condition that exists during nursing by an infant. The nipple is held in the mouth. The sucking action would normally generate a vacuum or reduced pressure in the oral cavity of the mouth and all passages communicating with the oral cavity. Such reduced pressure would, in effect, create a tugging force on the vagus nerve 50, shown with branches 50-51 extending upward into the oral cavity and adjoining parts of the head, and with lower branches extending downward into the region of the stomach 51 and the digestive and gastric system generally.

In the absence of this invention, as in conventional nipples, the forceful efforts of the infant, in sucking milk through the nipple, create vacuum force pulses with consequent tugging force pulses on the vagus nerve and branches that irritate the nerve. As a further consequence, various areas that are innervated by the nerve are affected. Thus, in the head, the upper branches shown at Sh-a manifest their irritations by pains in the head and neck. The lower branches at 50-b create stomach upsets and nausea, with all the attendant discomforts and loss of food or of its benefits.

It is here that the beneficial eflects of this invention are realized. The feeding conditions are controlled to stimulate the vagus nerve normally, to generate proper gastric reactions, but not to excite the vagus to a degree where the vagus nerve becomes irritated and stressed.

Thus, during feeding, the nipple 10 supplies air to the two regions where sub-normal or vacuum pressures would tend to be established. One region is in thebottle 18, where the withdrawn liquidleaves an empty space whose pressure level goes down unless restored by a connection to ambient air. The second region is in the infants month where the sucking action creates an artificial or apparent vacuum in the mouth.

The nipple 10 operates, by itsautomatic valve action, at opening 23 or 29, to admit air to the bottle, through path 52 (Figure 5), when necessary, to prevent excessive lowering of the pressure level in the empty space of the bottle. At the same time, the nipple flutes 21 admit air to the infants mouth, through the path 53 (Figure 5), when necessary, to prevent the lowering of pressure in the mouth to a negative value that goes beyond proper stimulation to a stress that causes irritation of the vagus.

In each air path 52 and-53, in'Figure 5, the quantity of air involved is small. The path to the bottle isautomatically controlled. The path to the infants mouth is to a certain extent arbitrary and empirical, but it is controlled dimensionally to a degree that will keep the elfec- .tive sucking force of the infant in a range sufficient to move the fluid out of the bottle and through-the nipple;

breaking air passages, the nipple serves to permit proper and smooth feeding of fluid from the bottle, while preventing the development of excessive negative pressure stresses in the infants mouth. The painful and nauseous conditions heretofore caused by improper nursing nipples are thus obviated by the nipple herein disclosed.

Tests on conventional nipples have shown that a substantial vacuum is developed in the mouth during the sucking operation. That vacuum condition is aggravated when the removal of liquid from the feeding bottle is permitted to develop an unbroken vacuum in the bottle itself, since greater sucking force is necessary in the mouth to workagainst the vacuum in the bottle.

Such vacuum condition in the mouth results in a strong pull on the inner surfaces of the mouth and throat, with a consequent feeling or nausea. In infant feeding, these conditions are undoubtedly the basic causes of colic. This harmful effect may be directly attributed to the disturbing effect of the vacuum pull in the infants mouth on the vagus nerve.

The strength of a vacuum pull may be realized upon considering the forces involved in clearing a block of debris in a pipe bend in house plumbing. The usual rubber dome plunger, when placed over the drain opening, requires considerable forceful operation to achieve an effective vacuum to release and move the debris.

Yet, upon admission of a slight amount of air under the rubber dome plunger, the vacuum is broken.

This same principle is utilized in the nipple herein, to prevent accumulation of excessive vacuum while permitting just enough reduction of normal air pressure, to permit normal feeding without conditions that would lead to nausea and colic.

The present nipple, herein, permits a limited amount of air to enter the infants month during the sucking operation, and thereby prevents excessive vacuum in the mouth. In addition, the nipple admits a controlled quantity of air to the feeding bottle, to prevent vacuum conditions in the bottle. By so controlling the pressure conditions between the bottle and the infants mouth, the generation of a vacuum condition is preventd that might cause collapse of the nipple. Thus, optimum feeding conditions are maintained that keep the nipple from collapsing and that eliminate excessive vacuum in the mouth, and thereby prevent occurrence of colic.

While the structure of the nipple hasv been shown to illustrate the functional features, it will be understood that the structure may be variously modified to still retain those functions, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A nursing nipple comprising a tubular wall structure terminating at one end in a perforated head to pass a liquid therethrough from a bottle reservoir, and terminating at its'other end in a portion to fit over the mouth of such bottle, to thereby leave the tubular strucure in free communication with such bottle, and means constituting part of the .tubular wall structure and shaped to define an exposed channel on the outer surface of the tubular wall structure, one end of the channel starting at a region adjacent the perforated head, which region would be within an infants mouth during use, with the channel extending to a region that would beoutside the infants mouth during use, and additional means also constituting part of said wall structure, and shaped to define an air reservoir, boththe channel andthe air reservoir being ready and availablefor-separately suplying air from outside the nipple to a nursing infants mouth and also to without extending into the range wherethe vagus nerve.

would be stressed and irritated.

-By maintaining such balance between the two vcauumthe bottle, to prevent excessive accumulation of a vacuum either in the infants mouth or in the bottle.

2. A nursing nipplecomprising a tubular wall structure terminating at one end in a perforated head :to pass a liquid therethroughfrom -a bottle reservoir, and terminating at its other end in a portion to fit over the mouth ofsuch bottle, to thereby leave the tubular structure in free communication with such bottle, the tubular wall structure being of such shape as to define one or more exposed channels on the outer surface of the tubular wall structure, one end of each such channel starting at a region adjacent the perforated head, which region would be within an infants mouth during use, with the channel extending to a region that would be outside the infants month during use, each such channel being normally ready and available for supplying air from outside the nipple to a nursing infants mouth to prevent excessive accumulation of a vacuum in the infants mouth.

3. A nursing nipple comprising an elastic tubular wall structure with an internal free flow passage and having a hollow perforated head at its front end, for drawing a liquid flow from a bottle capped by the nipple, said wall structure having an elongated fluted air passage formed on the outer surface of said wallstructure, said air conduit communicating from an exterior side of said nipple head, when the head is within the mouth in suckling position, to the atmosphere outside the mouth.

4. A nursing nipple as in claim 3, in which the elastic tubular wall structure behind the fluted air passage is slightly re-inforced to prevent collapse of the adjacent wall structure.

5. .A nursing nipple comprising a perforated bulbous hollow teat portion, a tubular neck and a hollow domeshaped breast portion, the neck portion extending backwardly from said teat portion to the breast portion, and an air passageway extending longitudinally of the nipple and disposed as an open channel on and along the outer surface of the wall portions of the neck and teat and breast portions, said air-passageway having an inlet on said breast portion and an outlet on said teat portion,

the passageway communicating between the outside of the nipple teat portion and the atmosphere outside the mouth when the nipple is inside an infants mouth in suckling position.

6. The nursing nipple defined in claim 5, including a bracing rib or boss formed on the inner surface of said wall structure directly behind said air-passageway.

7. An infants nursing nipple as defined in claim 6, in which said external air passage is re-inforced to provide a self-supporting wall structure that will resist collapsing when the nipple is in suckling position in an infants mouth.

8. An infants nipple comprising a teat portion to fit into an infants mouth; an enlarged breast-shaped portion to serve as a stop; and

a connecting neck portion between the teat portion and the breast portion;

the teat portion and the neck portion and the breast portion being shaped to have a continuous fluted air passage on their outer surfaces that will permit at least a minimum air flow into an infants month during suckling, to limit the vacuum to a value too low to irritate the vagus nerve.

9. An infants nursing nipple comprising a teat portion;

a flanged seating portion to seat on the rim of an open mouth bottle and to be clamped thereto in use;

and a perforation in the flanged portion to permit limited air flow into such capped bottle, to limit the pressure reduction within the bottle during suckling on the nipple; and a fluted passage along the teat portion to its forward end to extend into an infants mouth during use.

10. A nursing nipple consisting of a perforated bulbous hollow teat portion continuing backward to constitute a tubular neck portion;

a hollow dome-shaped breast portion extending divergingly backward on its outer surface from the tubular neck portion, and having its inner wall surface aligned coaxially with the inner surface of the neck portion and being of slightly larger diameter than the inner cylindrical surface of the neck portion, the outer surface of the neck portion and the outer surface of the breast portion having a continuous flute to provide an air passage to the outer surface of the teat; and

a cylindrical ring portion co-axially extending backward from the breast portion and terminating in a coaxial annular disk, the inner surface of the ring portion and of the annular disk being cylindrical and co-axially aligned with the inner wall surface of the breast portion, and the outer surface of the ring being shaped to define a pocket; and an air passage from said pocket extending through the annular disk.

11. A nursing nipple consisting of a perforated bulbous hollow teat portion having a regular smooth cylindrical inner wall surface;

a tubular neck portion co-axially aligned behind and connected to the teat portion;

a hollow dome-shaped breast portion secured co-axially behind the neck portion with the outer surface of the breast portion extending divergingly backward from the neck portion, the outer surface of the neck portion and the outer surface of the breast portion having a continuous flute to provide an air passage to the outer surface of the teat;

a co-axial ring connected to and extending back from the breast portion, and having a pocket formed at a limited region of its outer surface;

and a seating disk for the nipple consisting of an annular disc connected to the ring in co-axial alignment, the axial openings in the disc, in the ring and in the breast portion being cylindrically co-extensive and free of reentrant pockets, and the disk having an air passage of limited diameter extending through the body of the disk from the pocket of the ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,093,130 Kurkjian Sept. 14, 1937 2,582,950 Alstadt Ian. 22, 1952 2,628,616 Ranson Feb. 17, 1953 2,672,870 Alstadt Mar. 23, 1954 2,688,326 Lerman Sept. 7, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,962 Great Britain May 13, 1893 

